A Sunset To Start It All
by Ryuki Rose
Summary: It's been two years after the final battle with Voldemort, and after a party full with the playing of Weasley's Wheezes merchandise, Harry and Hermione realize they have feelings for each other!  What will unravel?  More summary inside.
1. A Sunset

**Hi! I'm writing again. This time, though, I was inspired by the new Harry Potter book. I was so mad when Hermione ended up with Ron! I mean, c'mon, he's a git! He abandoned them!**

**Anyways, this is about how I see Harry and Hermione getting together. **  
_  
_

_**Summary: It's been two years after the final battle with Voldemort, and after a party full with the playing of Weasley's Wheezes merchandise, Harry and Hermione realize they have feelings for each other! What will unravel? Will they be able to be together? Or will their significant others attempt to drive them apart? **_

* * *

**A Sunset To Start It All  
Chapter One**

Harry James Potter stood outside The Burrow - in the backyard to be precise - staring at the mottled sunset as it painted the low hanging clouds various hues of reds, oranges, and pinks. It seemed that the world had become more vivid and robust with the absence of the Dark Lord. Absentmindedly, Harry brushed at the slowly fading scar that was still etched into his forehead; the final battle, that had ultimately ended the corrupted rule of the Death Eaters, felt as if it had been eons ago, yet it was only going on its two year anniversary.

A bit of a smile pulled its way across Harry's lips as he thought of how the sun rose that day. It had been so bright, as if it realized that the dark reign of the despicable Tom Riddle had finally dissipated. Of course, the clean-up afterward proved to be a melancholy act. Just because the war had been won didn't mean that life was automatically reset to happy and peaceful.

No, not at all. It took days to get the dead accounted for - Harry's heart twisted a bit in guilt as he thought of Tonks, Remus, Fred, and the countless others who had died while fighting Riddle's Death Eaters - and weeks to attempt to heal the wounded, to catch the still stray Death Eaters, and to sort out the Ministry into some sort of reasonable organization before a total rehaul was made in the unjust laws that had been set into place. Not to mention the tedious business of convincing Headmistress McGonagall to accept Snape's portrait in her office. Harry leaned his head back and rubbed the bridge of his nose, groaning slightly under his breath as he remembered that tedious argument with his old proffessor.

Of course, she finally gave in, after realizing that this conflict was much too trivial to dedicate too much time to. Rebuilding Hogwarts, tallying up which special items had been looted by wayward students or destroyed, and attempting to resurrect the Sorting Hat were already piled upon the stressed McGonagall's plate; she had no time to argue with Potter about a portrait, especially after the long tale he told her of Snape's true allegiance. Needless to say, McGonagall wrote the young man quite often to complain about the bickering Snape's portrait seemed to conduct with the other portraits.

Harry couldn't help the grin that twitched at his lips as he thought of the scene of poor Headmistress McGonagall's day-to-day office environment. The amusing thought was interrupted, though, as the door behind Harry opened. Barely, Harry heard the sound of jubilant conversation, muddled beyond recognition save for a few phrases caught here and there, and felt a warm burst of air come from the bustling home as he turned to see his frizzy-haired friend. Hermione was leaning against the doorjamb, giving Harry that small smile of hers that indicated she was worried about him.

"What?" asked Harry as he turned to face her fully. Hermione seemed to hesitate for a moment, before taking a step over the threshold of the doorway. She tugged at the sleeves of her shirt as she said:

"Is anything the matter, Harry?" She paused to look up at him with her soft brown eyes, "You disappeared from the party without a word. I just thought, maybe, you know-- your scar was..."

The brainy young woman trailed off, feeling foolish for stating something that was obviously paranoid. Harry couldn't blame her, though. After so many years of his scar itching and burning, everyone found it hard to not jump in fear every time he touched it. The fear had died down recently, but Hermione always seemed to have a worried eye on him whenever he brushed his fingers against the scar.

"No, everything is fine, Hermione," Harry broadly smiled, never tiring of how truthful that sentence was. He took a step towards her, closer to the warm girth of the house. Harry always appreciated how worried Hermione was for him. He was very fond of all the attention, if worried attention, she gave him, and sometimes wished he could return to her some bit of affection. Just so she would realize that he wasn't taking for granted her care of him.

Inside, the Weaselys and a multitude of guests were celebrating the success of Weasley's Wheezes' newest product line. After Fred died, George continued with his - well, their - dream. Ron even helped his older brother with the oddities shop, and together they came up with hilarious products. When the business became large enough, George even asked for a helping hand from Percy, who happily obliged. Of course, Percy had little to no imagination and merely kept track of the financing, but whenever an idea did strike him, it was brilliant.

Through the doorway, Harry could barely see the guests, for gold-tinted smoke was lingering like fog inside. Apparently, the party-goers were shooting off the little poppers that made glittering bears dance in midair, and shimmering pink elephants tromp about while being chased by feathered tribesmen. Along with the smoke, there was the occasional bang as the wizards and witches tried the Fizzy Bang Candies, which guaranteed a blast of flavor with each piece.

As he drew closer, Harry noticed little tendrils of smoke from the glittery firework-like poppers were snaking into the air outside. The smoke framed Hermione's body and made her appear like an ethereal goddess as the lights from inside barely luminated through the semi-translucent smoke. It seemed as if spots of the smoke actually glimmered, as if someone had thrown glitter at it and had gotten the tiny pieces to stick. Of course, Harry wasn't attracted to the obviously beautiful Hermione; no, of course not. She was his best friend's girl, and there was no way he'd want to step between the two... even if they _were _an horrible match.

_'Of course, that doesn't mean that they'll last forever, Harry,' _purred a voice in the raven-haired man's head. This was true. Even he and Ginny were starting to hit more frequent rocky times, what with him becoming busy with Auror training and she starting her carreer in professional Quidditch. There was little time to spend together between the two. Harry knew that Ron was kept fairly busy with Weasley's Wheees, also. There was testing to be done and ideas to be thought; sometimes, Ron was obsessed with giving George new ideas. Hermione had been depressed, since for the past week she had hardly had any contact with her beau. Harry knew that if he was Ron he'd be dashing to her after work, just to spend some time with the beauty. But, all these thoughts were treasonous, at least a part of Harry believed they were. He shook his head slightly, to clear his head of those unloyal thoughts, and let his mind wander to other, if superficial, thoughts.

One such thought that traversed his mind was: how he looked to Hermione. Probably a sloppy, lanky man with hair that was too long and stubble that was long past a good shave. If only he knew how wrong he was, though. Just as Harry saw a goddess in Hermione, she saw a god in Harry. The sun cast reddish light against Harry's back, throwing a blazing red outline around his body. Gold light from inside glittered off his glasses, and highlighted his emerald green eyes. The light wind caused a few stray strands of Harry's black hair to dance about, free from the hold of the hairband he used to pull the rest into a medieval-esque ponytail.

Both of them stared at each other for a moment, as if drinking in their appearances. They didn't even seem to notice the minutes pass, nor notice that the space between them was starting to lessen. However, the silence was broken at the sound of something breaking inside. Hermione jumped a bit, and turned abruptly to see what had happened just as Harry into the doorjamb beside her to peer ingo the smoke smothered room.

"That's _quite _enough of this ridiculous smoke! No one can hardly see for heaven's sakes!" came the shrill command of Mrs. Weasely. She shouted a spell over the intertwined conversations going on, and Harry murmured a Muggle curse word under his breath. Before Hermione or Harry could move, the smoke was blasted out of the house, through their doorway, and into the night sky, where it dissipated into sparkles. However, for a moment there, that smoke had filled the air all around Harry and Hermione, causing both to double over in a fit of coughs.

* * *

** I wrote so much in the first sitting that I'm breaking it up into two chapters, so if the ending seems a bit abrupt here, I'm sorry! Anyways, go H/Hr 4ever!!! **


	2. For Now

**Hi! Here's the next installment of ASTSIA! Harry + Hermione FOREVER!!!**

**Anyone who has reviewed saying H/Hr is stupid, they can just bugger off!!!! It's FANFICTION! Don't like it, don't read it! **

** Disclaimer (damn, forgot it in the first chapter): I do not own Harry Potter, or anything thence related.  
**

* * *

******  
A Sunset To Start It All  
Chapter Two**

Once the smoke had cleared, Harry stood up, still coughing slightly. Hermione, however, was still doubled over with severe coughing, and once she did finally stand up Harry laid a warm hand on her shoulder and asked, with a slightly amused grin, "You okay?"

Hermione nodded, feeling the barest warmth creep to her cheeks at the touch of his hand. Her mouth seemed to dry to even murmur a 'yeah'.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry, kids. I didn't realize you were standing in the doorway!" Mrs. Weasely paused in her apology to stare at the two, before adding, "Everything is fine, isn't it?"

Harry belayed Mrs. Weasely's worries by informing her everything was fine, just a bit of coughing from the smoke so abruptly passing around them. The red-headed mother looked relieved, before throwing the two a smile and scuttling off to throttle whomever broke her fine china teacup, even though it was easy enough to fix with a repairing spell.

Without so much as a word between them, Harry and Hermione strolled back into the house. As the door shut softly behind them, Hermione realized that Harry's hand was still on her shoulder. It was so warm and strong; Hermione could barely handle pulling away from it when Ron, Hermione's lover for two years, beckoned for her attention. Harry, likewise, felt a bit more lonely as Hermione wandered through the crowded room to the tall red-head, who was calling loudly, no doubt hankering for Hermione's valuable attention.

He felt thin, yet strong arms wrap around his own arm, and glanced down to see his girlfriend, Ginny, smiling brightly up at him. Apparently, this was a silent apology, since Harry remembered that only a few hours earlier they had argued about something tedious. Her blue eyes always seemed to twinkle with happiness and hope, and no doubt Harry always loved the brilliance of them. Now, though, Harry couldn't help but see how piercing they were when in comparison to Hermione's soft brown eyes; even Ginny's hair seemed lackluster compared to how Hermione's had shone in the doorway. The-Boy-Who-Lived smiled down at the red-head, nonetheless, an inaudible sign that he accepted her apology, and allowed himself to be dragged to the other side of the room, farther from Hermione. 

Even through his newfound desire, however, Harry realized he felt a tad guilty for so swiftly falling for his friend while being with Ginny. Then again, maybe the desire wasn't so swift. Perhaps it had been there all along under the guise of good friendship. Maybe it had just taken a twilight of being in the 'off' area of his and Ginny's relationship, and a sunset to realize what he'd been missing when he realized how beautiful Hermione was.

As Ron showed Hermione the new treats George and he had made - novel Fizzy Bang Candy flavours and a Romance Quill, which scribbled out love notes and secret admirer letters in handwriting that mimicked the owner's perfectly - Ginny was leading Harry to a more private place, where they could celebrate their making up by themselves. Just as Harry was about to disappear from the room completely, he glanced over to the brunette he longed to stand beside. Hermione, too, had looked up just in time to catch his green eyes, seemingly filled with a desire that she shared.

Across the room, soft brown eyes met robust green eyes; both shimmering in the same desire, both unable to touch thanks to their situations. Nothing else seemed to matter around them; not those witches and wizards who enjoyed the explosive candies or the couples wandering out to enjoy the cool night air, not even their own current significant others seemed to matter. With one last tug, though, Harry was taken into the other room, and Ginny had Harry in her arms. At least. For now.

* * *

**********Well, that's all until I write more. Drop me a review so I can see how I'm doing!  
**


End file.
